Yellow

- five -

When the first episode was over, Winter begged to watch another.

"Please, more," Winter pointed to the tv and nodded softly. "Yes, more."

Giselle shrugged and chose the next episode, not seeing the harm in watching one more before they went to bed. She'd almost drifted off to sleep when she felt two hands shaking her awake.

"More," Winter smiled, pointing to the tv. Giselle wiped her eyes and checked the time on her phone, groaning when she realized they'd stayed up later than she planned. She sat up and shook her head, turning the tv off with the remote next to her. Winter tilted her head to the side.

"It's time for bed," Giselle yawned and stood up, walking over to the stairs. Winter followed slowly, walking only on her tiptoes.

"Sleep?" Winter inquired once they reached the top of the stairs. Giselle nodded and opened her bedroom door. Winter stood hesitantly in the hallway.

"Cold," Winter shook her head.

Giselle sighed and grabbed Winter's arm, pulling her into the bedroom to avoid waking anyone up. "I have warmer clothes for you to wear," she said, walking over to her dresser and searching through her drawers. "Here," she handed the smaller girl a long sleeved shirt.

Winter looked at the shirt in her hands, opening her mouth to say something but noticing the annoyed look on Giselle's face. She quickly grew quiet.

"Remember, this is your side of the bed," Giselle mumbled, pointing to the side where Winter had slept. The Japanese girl didn't wait for a response before crawling under the covers and turning away from Winter.

Winter stood quietly, holding the shirt in her hands. She slowly slipped out of the t-shirt of Karina's she had on and tugged on Giselle's shirt. Frowning, she realized it didn't smell the same as Karina's. So instead, Winter hugged Karina's t-shirt to her chest and padded over to the bed.

"Giselle?" She whispered, standing at the edge of the bed and looking at the other girl. There was no response, Giselle had already fallen asleep. Winter sighed, hugging the shirt even tighter to her chest and wiggled under the covers. She bit her lip, not happy that Giselle had put a pillow in the middle of the bed to separate them.

With a soft sigh, Winter curled up into a ball and brought the shirt up to rest in the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent she'd already become so comfortable with. She lay for a while in silence, staring blankly at the darkness in front of her. After entertaining herself with her thoughts for what felt like hours, her eyelids grew heavy and slowly closed shut.

Sleep had just overtaken the small girl when suddenly her breathing intensified. Memories came back in flashes of white and red, and a bead of sweat dripped down her brow. Winter gasped for air, waking herself up. Her heart was beating erratically and she sat up quickly, hugging Karina's shirt underneath her chin and scanning the room anxiously.

Every shadow, every small beam of light suddenly adopted the possibility of danger. Winter shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't like this. The small girl wiped frantically at the sweat on her forehead, trying to catch the breath she didn't know she'd lost.

Cautiously, she looked over at the girl in the bed next to her. Giselle was fast asleep. Winter considered waking her, but she knew in just next room over, there was someone who she'd rather be with. So quietly, she held Karina's t-shirt tightly to her chest and tip toed quickly to the door, checking around once more for anything that could be harmful. She peered out into the hallway to make sure it was safe before slipping out of Giselle's room.

Karina hadn't been able to sleep that night. She was too busy reliving her high school days, trying to make a list of everything Winter had done to hurt her. The only direct thing Winter had done was read her texts, though. The rest of Winter's offences had just been caused by her cheerleader friends. This confused Karina even more.